9-Year-Old Arrested for Stowing Away on Airplane & All Adults Can Do Is Blame the Kid

Have you heard about the 9-year-old who allegedly stowed away on an airplane the other day? The stowaway told his parents he was going to take out the trash and somehow sneaked aboard a Delta flight from Minnesota to Las Vegas. Not only has the 9-year-old been arrested, but every day we hear more about what a bad egg he is.

The latest allegations included a theft of a car and confirmation that he was on suspension from school for a fight when he decided to hop a flight to Sin City.

OK. We go it. This kid was trouble with a capital "T." But you did catch his age, right? Why are we ripping a 9-year-old to shreds? Aren't we missing something?

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The adults?

Sure, he may not be the perfect little angel. From the sounds of it, his parents have been up to their ears in dealing with his messes. The boy's dad -- who is not being identified to protect his minor child -- has now come out to admit his stowaway son has had his "ups and downs."

Maybe this is how we all feel better about the catastrophe that allows a 9-year-old to somehow sneak onto an airplane? By demonizing a little kid?

Because I've got to tell you, the idea that a kid can sneak onto an airplane does not make me feel good about airport security. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to notice an unaccompanied minor without a ticket and say, "Huh, something is out of place here!"

But this kid stowed away on the plane. Meaning he made it through airport security, through the gate, ONTO the plane. It seems no one figured it out until the plane was actually in the air as the kid was arrested on the Nevada end of the flight, where he was arrested.

The TSA won't let me get a full-size bottle of contact solution on a flight because re-wetting my eyes might start an international incident. But this they allow?

This kid may not be a saint, and surely he should be punished. But let's not let the misdeeds of a little boy misdirect us from the real problems here: airport security failed here. The parents failed here. The ADULTS failed here.

And this adult is none too comfortable letting that slide.

What do you think is the real problem here? The little boy or the airport's security?